Collective Tunnelling of Strongly Interacting Cold Atoms in a Double-Well Potential

It is known that under resonance conditions, a group of strongly interacting bosonic atoms, trapped in a double-well potential, mimics a single particle, performing Rabi oscillations between the wells. By implication, all atoms need to tunnel at roughly the same time, even though the Bose–Hubbard Hamiltonian accounts only for one-atom-at-a-time transfers. The mechanism of this collective behavior is analyzed, the Rabi frequencies in the process are evaluated, and the limitation of this simple picture is discussed. In particular, it is shown that the small rapid oscillations superimposed on the slow Rabi cycle result from splitting the transferred cluster at the sudden onset of tunnelling, and disappear if tunnelling is turned on gradually.     

Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Multispectral Facial Presentation Attack Detection in Automated Border Control Systems

Automated border control systems are the first critical infrastructure point when crossing a border country. Crossing border lines for unauthorized passengers is a high security risk to any country. This paper presents a multispectral analysis of presentation attack detection for facial biometrics using the learned features from a convolutional neural network. Three sensors are considered to design and develop a new database that is composed of visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and thermal images. Most studies are based on laboratory or ideal conditions-controlled environments. However, in a real scenario, a subject’s situation is completely modified due to diverse physiological conditions, such as stress, temperature changes, sweating, and increased blood pressure. For this reason, the added value of this study is that this database was acquired in situ. The attacks considered were printed, masked, and displayed images. In addition, five classifiers were used to detect the presentation attack. Note that thermal sensors provide better performance than other solutions. The results present better outputs when all sensors are used together, regardless of whether classifier or feature-level fusion is considered. Finally, classifiers such as KNN or SVM show high performance and low computational level.     

Exsolution of Nickel Nanoparticles from Mixed-Valence Metal Oxides: A Quantitative Evaluation by Magnetic Measurements

A fast and accurate experimental method is demonstrated to assess the fraction of exsolved metallic nanoparticles using magnetic measurements. As a benchmark, nanometric metallic nickel exsolved from (La_1−xSr_x)(Cr_1−yNi_y)O_3−δ is used for its high relevance as a solid oxide fuel cell component. The method is based on the difference in the magnetic response of the exsolved metallic nickel (ferromagnetic) and Sr-doped lanthanum chromite ceramic matrix (paramagnetic). The exsolved nickel results in coherent nanoparticles pinned on the surface of the Sr-doped lanthanum chromite ceramic matrix, as evidenced by electron microscopy analyses. The results obtained indicate the procedure as a fast and sensitive method to study the exsolution of ferromagnetic nanoparticles.     

Babassu mesocarp (Orbignya phalerata Mart) nanoparticle-based biosensors for indirect sulfite detection in industrial juices

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The present work proposes a new electrochemical sulfite biosensor based on babassu mesocarp nanoparticles (BMNPs) immobilized on the surface of a pyrolytic...     

In Vitro Calli Production Resulted in Different Profiles of Plant-Derived Medicinal Compounds in Phyllanthus amarus

The efficient production of plant-derived medicinal compounds (PDMCs) from in vitro plants requires improvements in knowledge about control of plant or organ development and factors affecting the biosynthesis pathway of specific PDMCs under in vitro conditions, leading to a realistic large-scale tool for in vitro secondary metabolite production. Thus, this study aimed to develop an in vitro technique, through the induction and proliferation of calli, for production of plant fresh weight, and to compare the PDMC profile obtained from the plants versus in vitro calli of Phyllanthus amarus. It was successfully possible to obtain and proliferate two types of calli, one with a beige color and a friable appearance, obtained in the dark using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium plus 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and a second type with a green color, rigid consistency, and nonfriable appearance obtained under light conditions and MS medium plus 6-benzyladenine (6-BA). In vitro micropropagated plants that gave rise to calli were also acclimatized in a greenhouse and cultivated until obtaining the mass for PDMC analysis and used as a control. While the micropropagated-derived plants concentrated the lignans niranthin, nirtetralin, and phyllanthin, the Phyllanthus amarus calli proliferated in vitro concentrated a completely different biochemical profile and synthesis of compounds, such as betulone, squalene, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol, in addition to others not identified by GC-MS database. These results demonstrate the possibility of applying the calli in vitro from Phyllanthus amarus for production of important PDMCs unlike those obtained in cultures of differentiated tissues from field plants.     

Correction to: Two-Dimensional Culture Systems to Enable Mechanics-Based Assays for Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes

Experimental Mechanics - The authors would like to correct the sentence “The mass ratio……” in the subsection on Engineered Substrate System in MATERIALS AND METHODS, to read:     

Mass‐Spectrometric Observation of Counter Anion Production in SU‐8 Exposed to UV Light and its Use for Dill C Parameter Determination

Photopolymerization is a phenomenon that is the basis of much of today's microfabrication technology and intense research is conducted to improve its control and the characteristics of end products for a variety of applications. The design of microscopic structures often relies on the accurate knowledge and modeling of photopolymer's behavior upon exposure, i.e. the Dill parameters, for each radiation species of interest and therefore the development of flexible characterization techniques is of great importance. SU‐8 is a popular compound that is representative of a whole class that relies on cationic polymerization, where an acid is obtained via photolysis of an onium salt during exposure. Here we report on the observation of SbF₆^? via laser desorption mass spectrometry on SU‐8 exposed to UV light at the wavelength of 365 nm and demonstrate that the yield of this counter‐anion as a function of exposure is consistent with the Dill C parameter value available in the literature. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 967–972     

Cover Feature: Mechanism of Oxidative Activation of Fluorinated Aromatic Compounds by N-Bridged Diiron-Phthalocyanine: What Determines the Reactivity? (Chem. Eur. J. 63/2019)

The biodegradation of compounds with C−F bonds is challenging due to the fact that these bonds are stronger than the C−H bond in methane. In this work, results on the unprecedented reactivity of a biomimetic model complex that contains an N-bridged diiron-phthalocyanine are presented; this model complex is shown to react with perfluorinated arenes under addition of H₂O₂ effectively. To get mechanistic insight into this unusual reactivity, detailed density functional theory calculations on the mechanism of C₆F₆ activation by an iron(IV)-oxo active species of the N-bridged diiron phthalocyanine system were performed. Our studies show that the reaction proceeds through a rate-determining electrophilic C−O addition reaction followed by a 1,2-fluoride shift to give the ketone product, which can further rearrange to the phenol. A thermochemical analysis shows that the weakest C−F bond is the aliphatic C−F bond in the ketone intermediate. The oxidative defluorination of perfluoroaromatics is demonstrated to proceed through a completely different mechanism compared to that of aromatic C−H hydroxylation by iron(IV)-oxo intermediates such as cytochrome P450 Compound I.     

Spectroscopies and Electron Microscopies Unravel the Origin of the First Colour Photographs

The first colour photographs were created by a process introduced by Edmond Becquerel in 1848. The nature of these photochromatic images colours motivated a debate between scientists during the XIX^th century, which is still not settled. We present the results of chemical analysis (EDX, HAXPES and EXAFS) and morphology studies (SEM, STEM) aiming at explaining the optical properties of the photochromatic images (UV-visible spectroscopy and low loss EELS). We rule out the two hypotheses (pigment and interferences) that have prevailed since 1848, respectively based on variations in the oxidation degree of the compound forming the sensitized layer and periodically spaced photolytic silver planes. A study of the silver nanoparticles dispersions contained in the coloured layers showed specific localizations and sizes distributions of the nanoparticles for each colour. These results allow us to formulate a plasmonic hypothesis on the origin of the photochromatic images colours.